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Optimizing a lean logistic system and the identification of its breakdown points

OPTIMIZING A LEAN LOGISTIC SYSTEM
AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF ITS
BREAKDOWN POINTS
by
Nasser B. AlRifai
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING)
December 2008
Copyright 2008 Nasser B. AlRifai

Lean manufacturing has become the goal of most manufacturing plants. It is based on a set of principles that were developed by Taiichi Ohno to be used in the Toyota Production system. The basis for Lean manufacturing is to reduce waste in the system. Implemented in the plant, and outside the plant, those principles directly affect the logistic network that services the plants and their suppliers. Used by many the lean principles generated a lot of profit due to better productivity and lower costs, but this was not the case with lean logistics since many existing companies tried implementing the lean logistic principles but failed due to mistakes in applying the principles or due to the structure of their supplier network.; The purpose of this research is to study the lean logistic system currently used by Toyota and extract the principles and requirements set by Toyota on their logistics network. From data that represent a real logistic system we created routes that were based on the lean requirements and compared their costs to the costs of a push logistic network. We showed that for Toyota's current supplier network that it is cheaper to implement a lean system than a push system, but when the average distance increases to 570 miles from the current 200 miles, a push system is the preferred method.

OPTIMIZING A LEAN LOGISTIC SYSTEM
AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF ITS
BREAKDOWN POINTS
by
Nasser B. AlRifai
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING)
December 2008
Copyright 2008 Nasser B. AlRifai